"Back" To Good Health

Dr. Glen Matejka, co-owner of Comprehensive Back and Nutritional Family Care in Crystal Lake, sits in a room at the facility. (Photo by Dani Schweigert)

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If you’re suffering from back or neck pain, the cause might be coming from a surprising source – your diet.

Nutrition is vital to keeping your body healthy and pain free, says Dr. Glen Matejka, who co-owns Comprehensive Back and Nutritional Family Care in Crystal Lake with his wife, Dr. Donna Millar-Matejka. Matejka has 25 years of private-practice experience, more than 600 hours of post-graduate education in spinal biomechanics and has completed more than 1,000 hours of post-graduate education in comprehensive nutritional medicine.

“The biggest problem today is vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the body and soft tissue,” Matejka says. “Another big problem I see is fatigue because we’re a fast-paced society. People aren’t getting enough rest and have poor nutrition.”

As a guideline, Matejka recommends the following nutrition tips:

Eat some form of protein at every meal.
Foods high in protein include nuts, especially raw; natural peanut butter; fish; meat; and chicken.

Eat eight to 10 eggs a week.
Eggs are one of the most complete proteins you can eat. Your body is made up of about 75 percent water, and the remaining 25 percent is protein and fat. To keep your body functioning at its highest level, you need plenty of protein and natural fats with every meal.

Drink water consistently throughout the day.
Drink about three 8-to-10-ounce glasses of water a day. Make sure the water is from a clean source such as distilled water or reverse osmosis.

Comprehensive Back and Nutritional Family Care offers Biomeridian testing, a noninvasive, FDA-approved device that detects the energy levels of your internal organs. The test shows how your organs function and indicates imbalances and weaknesses that need to be addressed. And it can detect those imbalances earlier than other medical tests, Matejka says.

Matejka also specializes in naprapathy, a branch of medicine (manual medicine) that focuses on the evaluation and treatment of neuro-musculoskeletal conditions. Those conditions include lower back pain, neck pain, sciatica, joint pain, headaches, migraines, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), spasms, sprains, strains, tennis elbow, whiplash and shoulder pain.

“It’s different from chiropractic care in that we’re treating the same conditions, but (naprapathy) is a gentler approach that deals with connective tissue instead of manipulating the bones and hard tissue,” Matejka says. “It’s also different from a massage because it focuses on the relationship of the connective tissue to the spine and other areas.”

Imbalances in connective tissue can be caused by poor sleeping position, faulty posture and improper biomechanics, or from sudden trauma from a car accident, a fall or a sports injury.

To avoid those issues, Matejka says, keep these tips in mind:

• When vacuuming, keep your back slightly bent with a gentle “give” in your knees.
• When cleaning blinds or putting dishes away, put one foot on a stool and your other foot on the floor to relieve pressure from your back.
• Avoid sleeping on your stomach. Lie on your back or side with a pillow between or behind your knees to relieve pressure from your back.
• When gardening, sit on a padded mat to protect your knees and alleviate back pain. Be sure to change positions every 30 to 45 minutes.
• When sitting (whether at home or at the office), stand up and move around every 30 to 45 minutes. Going outside for a few minutes can rejuvenate your body and mind.
• When reading or typing, keep your arms at eye level or below to avoid unnecessary strain on your back and neck.

Taking care of yourself is a full-time job, Matejka says, and Comprehensive Back and Nutritional Family Care is there to help. The staff is focused on finding healthy alternatives to medicine and surgery.

“We treat the whole body,” Matejka says. “And we make care affordable for everyone.”